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For our review of 2018, design editor Augusta Pownall picks out 10 trends that highlight what's been going on in the design and tech world over the past year, from a focus on football and a move away from Milan, to the return of the humble poster.

It wasn't only the players that were catered for, however, as luxury watch brand Hublot designed a timepiece for the match referees that connected them to the electronic video assistance system from the pitch. Even jewellery designers were inspired, with Saskia Diez creating earrings made from 11 freshwater pearls held together by a gold chain in the three-four-three formation commonly used in football.

There are a number of potential solutions with complicated acronyms to match (CDR, SAI, MCB, CCT GBAM), as explained in our comprehensive guide, but on a smaller scale, this year designers have grappled with the damage that human activity has already done to the geological make-up of the earth's surface.

Responding to the idea of the anthropocene, a contested term for this new geological period, designers such as Xandra van der Eijk remained objective about issues such as chemical waste dumping, or even, like Ysenia Thibault-Picazo, positive about the possibility of humans mining waste materials in the future.

Distant galaxies become more attractive

Call it escapism, but given the state of planet Earth, it's little surprise that designers turned their attentions to outer space. Space X founder Elon Musk melted down on Twitter consistently this year, but not before sending the Tesla Roadster into space on the maiden flight of his Falcon Heavy rocket in February.

The concern about rising levels of plastic in our oceans isn't going anywhere, but as well as raising consciousness of the issue, and a spike in the numbers of designs made with ocean plastic, designers are tackling the problem at its source.

At London Design Festival 2018, designer Michael Anastassiades unveiled his majestic brass water fountain in the courtyard of the V&A museum, with plans to roll out more across London, with the aim of reducing our reliance on single-use water bottles. A fountain also popped up outside Selfridges, one of London's biggest department stores, the following month.

The design and tech industries are notoriously bad at attracting and keeping diverse talent. But this year, when it came to product launches, it was the big names that reached out to a wide audience, and about time too.

Next year marks the centenary of the foundation of the influential Bauhaus school founded by Walter Gropius. Many brands have got ahead of the celebrations, with product collections and launches that celebrate the ethos of the school.

Richard Littler posted his satirical poster on Twitter, following British prime minister Theresa May's announcement of a Festival of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 2022. The design of his poster was based on the original for the 1951 Festival of Britain, but with Britannia shooting herself in the head.

With the global population ever-increasing and space in urban centres at a premium, designers have turned their attention to clever space-saving designs, with IKEA as ever leading the way with its Rumtid range for small-space living.

Presenting new collections at the Milan furniture fair has been a mainstay of the design industry for decades, but it can be expensive for smaller brands, and there's often a time lag in production. Bigger names are finding that customers lose interest in items they can't buy immediately, as Sebastian Wrong explained to Dezeen.

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Dezeen Daily is sent every day and contains all the latest stories from Dezeen.

Dezeen Weekly is a curated newsletter that is sent every Thursday, containing highlights from Dezeen. Dezeen Weekly subscribers will also receive occasional updates about events, competitions and breaking news.

We will only use your email address to send you the newsletters you have requested. We will never give your details to anyone else without your consent. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email, or by emailing us at privacy@dezeen.com.